2005Al-Haq is an independent Palestinian non-governmental human rights organisation based in Ramallah, West Bank. Established in 1979 to protect and promote human rights and the rule of law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), the organisation has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.http://alhaq.org
Sat, 25 May 2019 15:36:13 +0000Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Managementen-gbAffidavit No. 2737/2005http://alhaq.org/documentation/fieldworkers-affidavits/item/193-affidavit-no-2737/2005
http://alhaq.org/documentation/fieldworkers-affidavits/item/193-affidavit-no-2737/2005

I am a citizen of Al-Ras village located nine kilometres south of Toulkarem city. The village population is only around 500 persons. I work as a farmer on my land, amounting to 200 dunums planted with olive trees and containing greenhouses. My family, brothers and I used to rely on the income generated from the crops of this land.

At the beginning of 2002, however, the Israeli occupying forces embarked on the construction of the so-called Separation Wall. This Wall stretched along the west side of Al-Ras village, causing the confiscation of thousands of dunums in that area, including agricultural lands. The Israeli occupying forces constructed the Wall in the Al-Ras area, in the form of barbed wires and asphalted roads. Moreover, along the entire Wall surrounding the village, only one iron gate was erected in order to allow the Palestinian farmers to pass to their agricultural lands located behind the Wall.

The gate is located two kilometres to the west of the village. At the beginning of 2004, the occupying authorities completed the construction of the Wall in our area. The Israeli occupying authorities issued military orders stating that every farmer who wants to cross through the gate (No. 753) to his land, has to obtain a permit. Like all other villagers, I applied through the Palestinian Liaison in Toulkarem to obtain a permit but the Israeli authorities rejected my application and refused to give me a permit, alleging that I was rejected for security reasons.

Since then and until now, I have submitted around 20 applications to obtain a permit that allows me to go to my land, and every time the Israeli authorities have rejected my application for security reasons. I also attempted to obtain a magnetic card through three lawyers, but all my attempts have failed. I have never been arrested and I am not an activist nor affiliated to any political party. Currently, and for the past four years, I have not been able to pass through the gate in order to go to my land and take care of it, which led to the destruction of my crop. The cause of this lack of care is the Israeli occupation, the Wall and the gates.

I appeal to Al-Haq and all other law organisations to immediately intervene to force the Israeli authorities to issue me this permit. It is very odd that a Palestinian citizen needs to obtain a permit in order to reach his own land and his livelihood as a result of the construction of the Separation Wall.

Moreover, for more than two months, the Israeli army has prevented granting any citizen from Al-Ras village permits to pass through the gate. This measure has specifically been taken against the citizens of Al-Ras, which has been subjected to strict and tight military measures for an extended period of time. These measures

include the erection of checkpoints at the village's entrances, raiding the village, and other acts that violate the rights of Palestinian citizens.

It is also worth noting that these measures have deprived me and my family of our source of livelihood as I rely on the income generated from the land to feed my four small children. I have no job other than cultivating and planting that land.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 20 December 2005Signature: Ihsan Amin Mahmoud

At approximately 2:00 pm on Monday, 12 December 2005, I was returning from Ramallah to my home located in Beit Hanina. As I reached the Qalandiya checkpoint, I found at least 20-30 women at the entrance allocated for women and many more at the entrance allocated for men. I stood in the queue waiting my turn. The first half an hour passed and I still remained in the same place. Another hour passed and I only went forward a few steps. I then thought of going back to Ramallah and sleeping at my sister’s home, but could not because I thought of how my husband would be alone at home. So instead, I thought of going through Birzeit but I knew it would take me a much longer time to reach home when I was only 2 kilometres away from my home already.

I live in al-Hijra Quarter, very near to Dahiyat al-Barid checkpoint. At 3:10 pm I was still waiting in the queue. There was not a large number of women in front of me, but the inspection took a long time. Everything inside a bag must be emptied on the table in front of the Israeli soldiers, and the women were carrying many bags in their hands. The Israeli forces took such measures after a Palestinian citizen from Kufr Ni’ma village in the Ramallah governorate stabbed to death an Israeli soldier on 8 December 2005. By 4:30 pm, I was still waiting in the queue and there were still many people in front of me. I began to feel tired and sick. I felt pain in my feet and back in addition to a severe headache.

At 5:50 pm (after waiting four hours), the turn of the woman in front of me came and I felt happy because my turn would be straight after. As that woman took her bag and left the electronic gate, which did not ring, she smiled and said “dogs,” meaning the Israeli soldiers. A female Israeli soldier heard her and asked another soldier to return the Palestinian woman back to the end of the queue. But I heard her saying that she wanted to go home through Birzeit. I felt very angry because these soldiers control us in any way they like. I reached the electronic gate at 6:00 pm, emptied my bag on the table, and passed through the gate, which did not ring. These are the conditions: to pass through the gate without ringing, and to empty your bag. Finally, I got out of Qalandiya checkpoint and after five minutes in the car I reached my home very tired physically, and broken psychologically.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 13 December 2005Signature: Sawsan GheithName not withheldField researcher: Manaf 'Abbas

We own a plot of land estimated at 13 dunums and planted with different types of trees, particularly citrus trees, as well as vegetables. We have been cultivating this land for over ten years. The land is located three kilometres west of our village. This land is the main source of livelihood for our families which consist of 29 persons. We need constant access to our land in order to take care of it and to pick the crops. But the situation changed after the construction of the Separation Wall around Qalqiliya city and Tulkarem in 2003 by the Israeli occupying authorities.

The Wall has isolated many villages including our village. The Wall is a fence approximately six metres high and 12 metres wide with two gates, one on the west side and the other to the north. Therefore, we can only go to our land, located behind the Wall, through the gates which are controlled by the occupying authorities. They control the opening and closing times of these gates, in addition to who passes through them. We have to obtain permits from the occupying forces, which is not an easy process.

Many of my family members have not been able to obtain permits and they have always been denied permits due to security reasons. Nevertheless, those who have obtained permits are also subjected to delays of several hours while entering or exiting our village through the gates, and are subjected to curses and inspection as well. All these actions are practiced in order to humiliate us for no reason. This is all in addition to the long hours we spend at the gate waiting for the soldiers to open them, despite the fact that the permits state that the opening hours are from five in the morning until five in the evening. But the soldiers do not abide by these hours and they open and close the gates whenever they like.

In December 2005, the Israeli soldiers held me at the west gate for approximately two hours upon entering or exiting, on a daily basis, for no reason except to humiliate me. For example, on 15 December 2005 at around 7 am, I reached the west gate on the way to my land, and one of the soldiers asked me to take off my jacket, which I did. He then asked me to take off the rest of my clothes, but I refused because I felt that the soldier was trying to humiliate me since he was laughing at me. When I refused to take off my clothes, the soldier called other Israeli soldiers who came to the gate within half an hour. A number of soldiers including intelligence officers came close to me and told me literally that I have to do whatever the Israeli soldiers order me to do without any objection or they would withdraw my permit. On that day, I was held for four hours before I was allowed to pass.

It is worth noting that I am not the only citizen subjected to such sufferings. All citizens who pass through this gate experience the same sufferings whether they are men, women or children. Therefore, I call upon all institutions and members and professionals to put pressure on the Israeli occupying authorities to remove these gates and the Separation Wall which has swallowed our land, or to at least stop the suffering resulting from humiliation, curses and delays to which we are subjected on a daily basis while passing through these gates on our way to and from our lands. The west gate number is 943.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 22 December 2005Signature: Muhsen Mas’oud Hasan

On 24 August 2003, while I was at my brother 'Adnan’s Cassette Shop located in Paris Street in the Toulkarem city center, I was surprised when an Israeli squad wearing civil uniform broke into the shop. I was arrested and taken to the Israeli Liaison headquarters located west of Toulkarem where Sharon, an Israeli captain who is in charge of the Toulkarem area, detained me. I remained in there for half an hour, whilst photographs were taken of me. I was treated well, to a certain extent, by the Israeli soldiers. At around 3:00 pm, the soldiers blind-folded my eyes, cuffed my hands, put me in a jeep and took me to a detention center in the Kadumim settlement near Toulkarem.

As soon as I reached the detention center, the soldiers told me that I had been put under administrative detention for six months, without giving me any reasons. I stayed in the Kadumim detention center for three days without any interrogation. After that, I was transferred to the 'Ofar detention center near Ramallah. There an administrative ruling against me, without any investigation, was issued by an Israeli court located in the detention center. I stayed in the 'Ofar detention center for four days and was then transferred to the Naqab desert detention center where I also stayed for three days. After that, I was transferred to the Salem detention camp west of Jenin for interrogation. In Salem, I stayed for 7 days without any investigation.

As a result of these unjustified transfers from one detention center to another, I became very sick and my temperature rose to 41 degrees Celsius. I was in a dangerous state. The only treatment I received from doctors was Acamol tablets. This critical situation continued for 20 days. Again I was transferred to the Naqab detention center and my health situation deteriorated. My worsening situation, as well as pressure from the other detainees, forced the Israeli soldiers to take me to the Soroka Hospital in an Israeli army ambulance. I lost consciousness as a result of the high fever.

I stayed in the hospital while I was in a partial state of coma. I lost about 19 kg. After several tests, it was shown that the contaminated water of one of the detention centers caused my sickness. I spent six months in the Naqab detention center and after I finished the term (six months), another term was added. This second period was reduced to four months because the evidence against me was weak. I finished the second period, but my detention was renewed twice, each renewal lasting three months. To sum it all up, I have been in administrative detention for 16 months without knowing the reasons why and without any justifications.

I was released on 20 December 2004, and returned back to Toulkarem to my normal life. I have a degree in Theater and Direction from Holland. Three days after my release, I

returned to work in the Qindil House for Culture and Arts, a civil society organization based in Toulkarem and funded by European countries interested in culture and arts. During my work with this organization, I traveled from one place to another, and used to cross the Israeli barriers. The soldiers used to verify my ID card but I did not face any problems.

On 12 July 2005, I left Toulkarem in the morning, heading toward Allenby Bridge in Jericho and from there to Amman, and then to France in order to participate in a training course for work. At the Bridge, I submitted my documents including my visa to France. I was surprised when the Israeli soldier who checked my passport asked me to wait. After about 20 minutes, an Israeli intelligence officer came, gave me my Palestinian passport and told me to go back to Toulkarem claiming that I was prohibited from traveling. I was shocked and I tried to talk with that officer but he absolutely refused to talk to me. I returned back to Toulkarem. Due to that prohibition, the Israeli occupation deprived me of my right to develop myself by receiving training courses in my specialization, which is rare in the West Bank.

I do not know what to do, I am at a loss. The continuation of this situation will adversely affect my practical and professional life, especially as the field of my specialization continuously needs follow-ups and updating, in addition to participation in relevant training courses. For this reason, I call upon Al-Haq to immediately and rapidly intervene to find a solution for this problem. I also call upon Al-Haq to address all concerned law organizations to intervene in order to enable me to travel. I believe that banning me from travel is not justified.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 6 December 2005Signature: Ghassan SubuhName not withheldField researcher: Tareq al-Haj Mahmoud

At approximately 2:00 am on Wednesday, 30 November 2005, I was sleeping in my home located at the Wikala (UNRWA) quarter in Jenin Camp, specifically near the UNRWA office. My mother woke me up saying, “Get up, the army is at the neighbor's house”. She meant the house of Abu-Ahmad al-Qasem located immediately south of our home. I got up, put on my clothes and prepared myself, scared that the Israeli army may enter our home. At 2:15 am, the Israeli army told us through their megaphones to get out of our homes, “Everyone who is in the house must come outside.” My father went out first, followed by my mother and my aunt. There were nine of us in the house. After 15 minutes, all the above-mentioned returned home. Our home consists of two floors. My family lives on the upper floor and my aunt Rihab 'Abd-al-Rahman lives on the lower floor.

After my father, mother and aunt returned, the Israeli army, who were in front of our home, threw a sound bomb which exploded at our front door creating a horrible noise. All of a sudden, I saw a big brown dog with a hearing device tied to its ear and an iron chain on his neck. Without exaggeration, the dog was the same size as a donkey. The dog came close to us, opening its eyes and sticking its tongue out of its mouth. My brothers and sisters, 'Abd-al-Rahman (17 years), Asma’ (16 years), 'Umar (10 years), Ahmad (9 years) and Ayat (4 years), and I were very scared and sat on the floor close to each other. The dog slowly came closer to us. It first came near my father and smelled him, then my mother, followed by my aunt and then me and my brothers and sisters. Then it climbed the stairs and entered the second floor and went from one room to another. This continued for around 3 minutes. While the dog was in the kitchen, I moved from my place and sat beside my sister Ayat who was crying out of fear.

When the dog returned, it seemed to have noticed that I changed my place. Immediately, it bit my left thigh and pulled me. I felt severe pain in my thigh and started yelling at the top of my voice, “Dad, dad!” The dog dragged me from the upper floor to the ground floor, pulling me down the stairs, and then pulled me outside our home onto the street. I was shouting from the pain and felt the teeth of the dog deep in my thigh. On the street, I saw a large number of Israeli soldiers preparing their guns to shoot at me. My father ran after me and held me, although the dog still had its teeth in my flesh. The soldiers came near me and tried to detach me from the dog but the dog swallowed a piece of flesh from my left thigh.

An Israeli soldier carried me and put me down at the entrance of our home and some soldiers treated my wound. I remember that they put glucose on the wound, gave me an injection and wrapped my left thigh.

Afterwards the Red Crescent Society ambulance came, it seems upon the request of the Israeli army, and carried me to the Jenin governmental hospital. I am still in the hospital, undergoing treatment. I was very scared and badly psychologically scarred. Even now, I shake whenever I remember the dog and how it attacked and pulled me.

It is worth noting that Ahmad al-Khatib, who was killed by the Israel army on the first day of 'Eid al-Fitr (3 November 2005) at the eastern entrance of Jenin camp, is my classmate and one of my dearest friends. As the whole world heard, Ahmad's organs have been donated to Israeli children. For that reason, I appeal to all who can hear me and say: We gave life to Israeli children but on the other side the Israeli army insists, to a frightening degree, on killing our children's ability to live a normal childhood. Indeed, the dog was going to kill me. Although it did not kill my soul, it killed my childhood and turned my life into a life of horror.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 1 December 2005Signature: Muhammad Qassem

On 8 November 2005, my friends (Ahmad and Ramzi) and I decided to go to the public park located in the north area of Nablus. As we reached Ahmad’s home, also located on the North Mountain and only 500 metres or a little bit more from the park, Ahmad stopped and called our other friend, Mohammad Abu Salha, in order to join us. Mohammad accepted and came with us.

After we walked several meters, we stopped for a drink at Mohammad’s father’s workshop where he works as a watchman. His father gave us a bottle of water, which we all drank from, and then we separated. Ramzi and Ahmad went to the park while Mohammad and I went to the castle located about 200 metres away from the park.

At approximately 3:00 pm, as soon as we began to part, I heard intensive gunfire near us. The four of us were still very close to each other. I looked around and saw a number of Israeli soldiers opening heavy fire in all directions. The Israeli soldiers were only around 100 metres away from us. As a result of this heavy fire, I was hit in my abdomen while a bullet hit Mohammad in his head. Mohammad instantly fell to the ground without uttering one word. He was bleeding heavily.

I was shocked and felt incredibly frightened about what was happening in front of me. I saw the occupying forces looking at us whilst we were bleeding, without coming near us to see what happened. I heard them speak in their megaphones in Hebrew, which is a language I do not understand. As a result of my injury, I started to lose consciousness. When I regained consciousness I discovered I was in the Ittihad Hospital in Nablus, being treated for the injury in my abdomen.

I stayed in the hospital for eight days. As for Mohammad, I was informed when I asked about him that he was killed. I was not surprised, because when he was hit in his head, I saw him vomiting food and blood together. As for the other two friends, I found out that Ahmad Fakhouri was not injured, but Ramzi Saqqa was hit in his left leg by a bullet, and that he was undergoing treatment in the Evangelical hospital in Nablus city.

With regards to the gunfire we were subjected to, it came as a surprise for all of us and it was unjustified, especially considering the fact that we were not armed and the area we were in was not banned. Moreover, both before and during the firing, the soldiers did not ask us to stop or do anything.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 27 November 2005Signature: Ala’ Basel Salman

I am an employee at the Ibrahimiyya school in the Old City of Hebron. I began working in the Ibrahimiyya school at the beginning of this academic year. On 31 August 2005, an inspection room was erected beside the school in order to inspect the students who come to school. On 19 November 2005, the Israeli soldiers asked the students and teachers to pass through this room to be inspected by an electronic inspection machine. At first, all the students and teachers rejected the decision and as a result the school closed from 19 November until 24 November, until it was forced upon all of the students and teachers to pass through the room and be subjected to inspection.

On Wednesday 23 November 2005, while the students were protesting against the inspection process, many Israeli military officials came. I began to talk with one of them partially in Hebrew, which I am 70% fluent in, and partially in Arabic because the official also spoke Arabic. By talking with this official, I learned that a military order was issued requiring everyone to pass through this room with the exception of pregnant women and persons who have heart diseases or hold special medical documents. If this system of inspection takes place, it will impede the students and the teachers, especially in the morning hours, and the school will suffer from the late arrival of students to school.

I passed through that room and saw the electronic inspection machine, which is similar to the machine used at the entrance of the Ibrahimi Mosque and in several other places. The difference here is that this machine is set up in a room which has an entrance and an exit, and the doors are closed whilst all the students are inside this room. This is stressful for female students and female teachers and I do not know if this type of inspection may have side effects, other than the psychological ones, on those who pass through it.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 26 November 2005Signature: “Muhammad Maher” al-Karaki

At approximately 12:30 pm on Thursday, 17 November 2005, I was driving back from Jenin to al-Yamoun on my motorcycle. Driving directly in front of me was a white Mercedes with Palestinian registration plates. Driving towards us was another Mercedes similar to the one in front on me, and it flashed its lights to the car in front of me. At this moment, I passed the car in front of me because it was driving very slowly. After driving 500 metres, I stopped on the side of the road in an area called Bir al-Sa'ada to talk on my cellular to a friend of mine.

As I was talking, I heard shooting behind me. I looked back in the direction I was coming from, and saw the white Mercedes I was originally driving behind standing in the middle of the road about 40 metres away from me, and another car, a grey Polo model 2004 moving slowly in front of it. Initially I thought the Polo was moving slowly as a result of an accident with the Mercedes.

Suddenly, five people wearing black civilian clothes, black masks covering their faces, and carrying arms began shooting heavily at the Polo car. There was no more than five metres between the men and the Polo. I realized that these men were from the Israeli Special Squads. Out of fear, I began running away from the scene towards al-Yamoun. I stopped at the north entrance of al-Yamoun, and after 5 minutes, I saw the Mercedes car drive in the direction of the Salem military camp, which is located at the end of Jenin-Haifa street.

After the Mercedes left, I hurriedly returned to the site of the incident. By this point there were a number of people gathered around the Polo, which was standing in a field. Once closer to the car, I saw youths inside. They had been killed by the bullets that had penetrated the car from every side. I could not recognize the driver as he had been hit in the head, chest, and hands. The body of the other man next to him was torn apart by the bullets. I recognized him; he was my cousin Ahmad Saber 'Abahra (20 years old). From the other citizens gathered around the car I discovered that the other man was Mahmoud Jamal Zayed (also 20 years old). Both men were from al-Yamoun. After several minutes, the Red Crescent Society ambulance arrived and, with the help of the people around, we carried the two bodies to the ambulance to take them to the Jenin government hospital.

In the lead up to the incident, and throughout it, I did not notice the presence of any Israeli military forces, nor did I hear any voice calling the two youths to stop their car before shooting at them. Moreover, I did not notice any arms in the Polo car or that they fired towards the Israeli Special Squads. The Israeli officials allege, through the media, that the soldiers asked the two youths to stop but they did not. As stated before, this is not true because there was no Israeli presence in that location when I was there. The Israeli Squad members could have arrested the two youths but they assassinated them intentionally. They were buried the same day in al-Yamoun village.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 26 November 2005Signature: Marwan 'Abahra

At approximately 7:30 am, on 17 October 2005, I was driving seven passengers in my car and heading towards Qalandiya. As I was driving on the main street near Burqa village in the Ramallah governorate, we saw an Israeli flying checkpoint positioned on the main road, which surprised us. I stopped my car and after a few minutes the soldiers signaled me to proceed towards them. At the same time, many cars came and stopped behind my car. When I reached the soldiers, one of them told me to turn back because the area was closed and we were not allowed to drive through it.

I had no option but to return to my village, al-Luban. As I began to return, however, I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed that there were no other cars returning like I was. I thought that perhaps the prohibition was over and the soldiers had allowed the cars which were behind me to pass, or that they had removed the checkpoint. I tried to go back again but when I had driven around 20 meters, I met an Israeli patrol coming in the opposite direction, which began to indicate with its patrol lights for me to stop.

One of the soldiers told me through a megaphone to stop on the right side. I stopped my car as they told me. Four soldiers got out of their jeep and asked me to get out of my car. One of them started to inspect my papers and the papers of the car while another took off his metal helmet and started beating me with his hands and helmet on my face and head. At that moment, another taxi arrived at the same place and the soldiers stopped it and did to the driver what they were doing to me. While the soldier was beating us, he was asking us about our destinations. We told him that we were proceeding towards Qalandiya. He told us that the area was closed and that we were not allowed to drive through it, whilst at the same time he continued to beat us. The beatings continued for seven to ten minutes. After that he told us not to use the road and if we did, he would “break” our cars.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 21 October 2005Signature: Iyad Mousa

On Saturday 1 October 2005, I was in my agricultural land located seven kilometres west of my village, Kufr al-Labad in the Toulkarem Governorate. At 7:00 am, I was picking olive trees on my land, which is around 30 dunums. I was surprised by three young men wearing civil uniforms, carrying weapons, and wearing yarmulkes on their heads. I realized that they were settlers. I was shocked when I saw them running toward me from the south where the Avni Havits settlement is located at four kilometres away from my land.

When the three settlers were close to me, one of them started to talk to me while the other two were aiming their weapons at me. That settler (who talked to me) was in his thirties, bald, and spoke Arabic with a heavy accent. He asked me, "What are you doing here?" and I told him that I was picking olives. At that moment, he came closer to me, held my shirt, and tore it. Then he grabbed my pants, pulled them down, and also tore them while the other two settlers stood guard beside him. The same settler said, "I don't want to see you here again."

Meanwhile, one of the other two settlers approached me and asked for my ID (in broken Arabic, too) and I gave it to him. He took it and tore it and threw it on the ground even without looking at it and asked me to leave my land by saying, “You have an hour – if we come back and find you here, we are going to kill you.” The threat was serious. The three settlers then left in the direction of the Avni Havits settlement. Out of horror and fear, I quickly returned back to my village.

The next day, I returned with two of my friends to my land. For two days, I picked my olive trees with my friends’ help. Since then I have not been able to return to my land. The settlers of Avni Havits prevent us from approaching our lands which surround that settlement. As a result, we lose our olive crops every year.

This is my statement and hereby I sign, 17 October 2005Signature: Ibrahim Rajab